Food, fashion and life in Hong Kong and Asia at large.

A Fat Duckling in the Lion City

by chopstixandthecity on July 28, 2015

A Different Vegetable Salad

A former chef at The Fat Duck, Ivan Brehm’s Chef’s Table is one of the most genuinely interesting food concepts in Singapore.

The table for two in the kitchen at Bacchanalia restaurant is bookable by arrangement only. Once there, the boffinish Brehm can be watched overseeing his supremely clever and artfully executed dishes at the pass and his brigade (including sous chef and fellow Fat Duck alumni Mark Ebbels) preparing them at their immaculate stations. Don’t expect expletives: Brehm is impressively calm and it rubs off on his team.

The Chef’s Table at Bacchanalia

After discussing your culinary preferences, Brehm will create a personalised menu for you (expect to pay a minimum of $SG500 plus taxes). Accompanied, if you wish, by wines chosen by the sommelier. These may include A Different Vegetable Salad, Rice & Coconuts, Hamachi Carambola and White Chocolate & Cherry Tart.

Nothing is quite how it sounds but neither does it come with Heston Blumenthal theatrics – Brehm likes his food to look like food.

Chef Ivan Brehm

The head chef will bring the dishes to your table, some including rare and local Asian herbs from Bacchanalia’s kitchen garden and each accompanied by a fascinating description of how the dish was devised.

In a city that’s dominated by copycat restaurant formats this makes a refreshing change.